I was at the IKEA store in Schaumburg, IL this past Saturday (05/29/2010) purchasing roughly $300 worth of furniture to start outfitting a new home. The experience went along fine until I had paid for the merchandise and was ready to leave the store. I was asked by two different individuals to show my receipt. One was a store employee who, much to his credit, apologized profusely and looked genuinely remorseful after the look I gave him. The second was a rent-a-cop who was aggressive, confrontational, rude, and arrogant who insisted I comply with the receipt check in a very particular way ("I need to HOLD IT in MY HAND and LOOK AT THE MERCHANDISE.") I have written to IKEA customer relations and they have assured me that my complaint will be passed on to the store in question, but it's been 3 days and I've heard no response.

Until the problem of receipt checking (and yes, it is exactly that - a PROBLEM) is corrected, by means of reassigning or firing all of their receipt-checking personnel and never reinstating the practice, I will be obtaining my furniture from an alternate source.

Does anyone know who IKEA's biggest, most threatening, most feared competitor is? I'd love to give them 3x the business I would've given to IKEA, as long as they don't check receipts on the way out the door.

To anyone looking for furniture in the Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates area, Google Maps shows that Pier 1, ZGallerie, The Room Place, and Crate & Barrel are all within a mile of IKEA. I don't know offhand which of these stores are free from the unforgivable and unjustifiable plague of receipt-checking, but hopefully they respect their customers more than IKEA does.

And no, I will not "just get over it and show my receipt, it takes 5 seconds, what am I whining about." Nor should anyone. I'm not a thief, I'm not a shoplifter, I'm not a criminal, and I utterly refuse the indignity of being treated as such. Someone has to stand up and say "no," might as well be me.

I'm sure somebody must love you but I can't imagine how. The people that check these receipts would probably rather be doing something else with their time. Take exception to the store's policy if you want to. Even boycott them for all I care.

But taking your frustration (unjustified imo, perhaps you should look up "indignity" in the dictionary before you start casually slinging it around) out on these employees, that are only doing their jobs, is uncalled for and totally inappropriate. I'm sure Ikea won't miss you nor will the rest of us that continue to shop there.

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Anonymous

CateMMar 14, 2011#260321

I find it so insulting and humiliating. Why should I go to a store to be subjected to punishment? Because being treated like a common, lowlife thief is punishment; an attack on my dignity.

I also agree that 80% of the time the person engaing in the accusing behavior--following, watching, and treating you as though you were some lowlife deliquent worthy of zero respect (I'm a professional woman who can't dress casually without being insulted in this way)---I agree that 80% of the time they are people who feel like losers and want to bring others down as a power trip. They think they are exerting authority over you. Right. And they know perfectly well you're not a threat...

As I said, why go to a store to be treated that way? We're the guests, we're whom they need to court. Lousy customer service has got to end, and people should boycott them.

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CelticWhisper

CelticWhisperFeb 09, 2011#246423

I'm certain I've stated more than once that low prices are not my priority - respect and dignity, on the other hand, are.

I will gladly spend twice or more the cost charged by a store that "keeps prices low by taking 30 little seconds to check receipts" to reward stores that don't look upon their customers with suspicion.

I will gladly return merchandise I've purchased 5 minutes prior upon finding out a receipt checker intends to unlawfully detain me to inflate his or her own sense of self-importance, usually conferred by a cheap tin badge and ill-fitting uniform, and let him/her check each item on the receipt as the returns are processed, reminding the receipt checker of the lost sale their actions caused with each item handed over to the returns clerk.

Too frequently I see authoritarian mentalities expressed by loss-prevention personnel on internet forums and sites such as this. Receipt checkers, whether store employees or private security contractors, need to learn that they have no authority. Maybe it will take a rash of unlawful-detainment/false-imprisonment arrests and convictions to get the message across. Maybe we need to send some overzealous receipt-checkers to real prison as punishment for their hubris before the rest of them will learn that the phrase "no means no" has applicability outside high school sex education classes.

Stores lose inventory, have to raise prices, can't afford this or that? Once again, for the umpteenth time, not my problem. I have zero sympathy for the store and I have zero sympathy for the receipt-checkers they hire to try to correct the problem by, once again, pushing it off on their customers.

Get over myself? I suggest you speak to a mirror when you get a chance. I'm not the one who gets delusions of grandeur from being told "try to stop theft if you can." Exercising shopkeeper's privilege to prevent a blatantly-obvious theft, no matter how tricky one thinks that may be, is a far cry from wholesale harassment of every paying customer who walks through your doors. Receipt-checkers can be ashamed all they want of being a member of the same species as me, but as soon as they refuse to take "no" for an answer when a customer says "no," what they should be ashamed of is their job.

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Anonymous

OdinFeb 09, 2011#246356

Oh, I'm so sorry that Ikea has brought up the memories of your over controlling parents. Your retaliation against Ikea was surely felt by them.

You make me feel ashamed to be the same species as you by your statements on this website. Maybe I'll take part in some recreational suicide and hope I am reincarnated as a pebble. I'd have more fun being a pebble than knowing you're self righteous mind set is what my child has to face when she's working to save up for her first car. You do know that customer service is one of the top first time jobs out there?

I mean, you seem to know it all. You really *** me off.

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Anonymous

HumanFeb 09, 2011#246350

I cannot believe you. I've worked in customer service for almost 10 years now.

Do you know how hard it is to define a "thief" beyond a reasonable doubt? I have also been the loss prevention supervisor. I am the woman with her baby in the shopping cart that walks around the store for literally 2 hours watching everyone and putting things in the cart only to restock it later. People are so swift in their stealing!

I had a woman over stuff a shopping cart, pull out an OLD receipt and some cash and try to walk out of the doors! If we didn't have the checks, the value of that woman's cart was over $575. That's most of my weekly paycheck! So I should just let you walk out because YOU specifically are not a thief?

I don't know you! I don't know that the receipt isn't old or that you're an honest Jane. Give me 30 seconds to look at the time, the date, number of items and your cart and you're good to go. Seriously.

Without me doing that, people walk out of the store with my paycheck. The company doesn't have the money to pay me without jacking their prices up and we end up losing jobs and business.

So you're always right, eh? Always...

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Anonymous

FlickaFeb 09, 2011#246348

GET OVER YOURSELF! Simply put, you're the customer that whines that I did my *** job.

I'm sorry I was hired to ensure we could keep our prices low. Maybe I should just go be another jobless *** living off of welfare. Granted, the demeanor could have been more graceful and along the lines of protocol with the guard. But to say that you felt like you were treated as if you were being targeted as a thief is absurd.

Maybe it's your guilty conscience for stealing something when you were a kid. Maybe it's just that you think you're too *** good for anyone. Just get over yourself and let the receipt checker do their job. I can't stand adults who whine when a company tries to keep their prices low by ENSURING they are not being a victim to theft.

security contractor employees are typically undereducated, poorly trained and in need of psychotherepy. they are emotionally insecure and they use the job to get ego gratification by inflating their sense of importance through the exercise of power. since their power is limited they seek self-aggrandizement through intimidation and harassment.

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RecCheckerFeb 01, 2011#243321

They make $12...

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CelticWhisper

CelticWhisperJan 08, 2011#233733

And I would rather pay more to be treated with dignity. Granted, such treatment should not represent a higher monetary expenditure, but given the choice I'll happily shop somewhere more expensive that treats the customer with respect and acknowledges that one cannot put a price on customer goodwill.

IKEA clearly does not realize this as they try to make their loss-prevention our problem.

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MichaelJan 08, 2011#233600

I would much rather have a store implement stop loss proceedures such as these versus increasing prices. The practice is in place in large part due to the increase of theft.

Although I have yet to experience this at an IKEA, it can't be any different than te process at Sam's Club or Costco.

30 seconds, no biggie . . .

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CelticWhisperNov 13, 2010#210940

It really is amazing how many people say I need to "get over" this or that when I've already stated in no uncertain terms that I will not. IKEA needs to realize that their loss-prevention imperatives are not their customers' problem and attempting to make them their customers' problem will drive those customers, consciously or otherwise, to their competitors.

Any business that treats the customers who are its bread and butter with such disdain, suspicion and disrespect does not deserve their patronage and deserves to suffer lost income and, if it does not shape up in time, bankruptcy. Whence come all the apologists for corporate thuggery? These are privately-employed rent-a-cops harassing innocent shoppers, engaging in acts of intimidation and coercion by putting on airs and trying to come off like LEOs when they are anything but. Why should I or anyone else trying to go about the simple business of buying some furniture be expected or even asked to endure such despicable treatment and respond only with "Please sir I'd like some more"?

To *** with receipt checking, to *** with the small-minded would-be gestapo simpletons who take receipt-checker jobs, and to *** with IKEA for stooping to such a contemptible low as treating its customers like criminals. And if the corpulent pond *** who demanded my receipt that rueful day happens across this post: Congratulations, Herr Commandant, you've directly inspired me to shop at your employer's competitors, and I've half a mind to photocopy the receipts from those purchases, highlight the totals that represent your employer's loss and their competitors' gain, and mail it to your supervisor along with an explanation of exactly why they lost the business. And you can check that receipt all you like. And I'm sure one wacko extremist like myself wouldn't be enough to change IKEA's policy, but I don't care.

Anything I can do to beat some sense into companies like this and get businesses to start saying "Sir yes sir" to their customers again is worth the effort. We're the real bosses.

We have the money. Time to start setting the terms again.

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catty

cattyNov 12, 2010Erode, Tamil Nadu, India#210872

i don't look at it as harassment, they are protecting themselves. i have nothing to worry about, and if i have to stop for 5 seconds and have them check my stuff, so be it. you really do need to get over yourself.do you have a guilty conscience or something?

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Anonymous

WowwwwwOct 30, 2010#205841

Get over yourself, lady. They're trying to cut down on shoplifting.

The guy makes $8 an hour. Deal with it.

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CelticWhisperOct 25, 2010#203954

Jens: No, as I said in my initial post, I will NOT just get over it. I don't care what their reasons are for their policies. Protecting their profits is their problem, not mine, and by pulling the corporate-fascist routine they try to make it my problem.

"If you have nothing to hide, it doesn't affect you." There are so many things wrong with this statement I don't know where to begin. It's the same mentality that has gotten us virtual strip searches at airports and more and more wholesale surveillance in all facets of society. Yes, it does affect me. It's a breach of my privacy and an insult to my integrity. I'm not a thief, and if my word as a human being is insufficient for them to understand that, then to *** with them and their business.

I'm shopping at Ashley Furniture or the Room Place from now on, but I'll be calling them first to make sure they don't check receipts!

Oh, and I, too, honestly do hope visitors stop coming to the US if the border patrol is going to treat everyone like terrorists and demand fingerprints. The drop in revenue and further damage to the economy should, hopefully, act as enough of a clue-by-four to beat some civility back into the border boys. Human beings deserve respect, dignity, and privacy, period.

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JensAug 01, 2010#170882

"And no, I will not "just get over it and show my receipt, it takes 5 seconds, what am I whining about." Nor should anyone. I'm not a thief, I'm not a shoplifter, I'm not a criminal, and I utterly refuse the indignity of being treated as such. Someone has to stand up and say "no," might as well be me."

Have you ever thought about the fact that US Border Security treat every visitor to the US exactly like a terrorist and you are required to leave your fingerprints etc. I certainly hope that all those visitors do not want to deal with this indignity and stop going to the US.

Policies are there for a reason. In Ikea's case they have an open concept where typically after the checkout is another food store etc. That a staff member at the door makes sure that nobody walks out with unpaid goods, is just an option to stop any potential thief (not you in particular). If you have nothing to hide, it does not affect you. So please, get over it! At least they do not take your fingerprints when you enter the store...

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Anonymous

Anonymous
to
JensJan 14, 2014#773396

Ikea is not the US Border, don't be a sheep.

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MJul 02, 2010#160184

Just because you don't like their policy doesn't mean they agree with you or that they will change it. You wrote to them twice already and told them you'd take your business elsewhere if they didn't change this policy that you dislike so much.

Time to go elsewhere.

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CelticWhisper

CelticWhisperJun 22, 2010#156699

I just contacted them again about this. Here's what I wrote:

"I contacted you about a month ago regarding an extremely unpleasant experience I had at the IKEA store in Schaumburg, IL concerning a rude and aggressive receipt checker. Since my initial complaint I have received no correspondence from IKEA regarding this matter. I can only conclude from this that IKEA does not, in fact, value my business or me as a customer and as a result I will have no choice but to obtain the rest of the furniture for my new home from alternate sources. I also do not wish to have to escalate the matter to my local chapter of the Better Business Bureau, but I will if I must. It is disgraceful that the only solution apparent to a business of IKEA's size when it comes to loss prevention is that of treating paying customers as naught more than shoplifting cases waiting to happen.

Sincerely,

(name)"

We'll see if they actually care about whether or not they *** off their customers. I hope they don't think I can be bought with coupons or free gift certificates. I want to see a lightbulb over some manager's head when he realizes "Gee, maybe it's a bad thing to harass and abuse the people who give us hundreds or thousands of dollars and keep us in business."

I expect to be able to walk into an IKEA like everyone else and pay just as much as everyone else for the same merchandise as everyone else and be treated with respect as a human being...just like nobody, it seems.

Time will tell.

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CelticWhisper

CelticWhisperJun 08, 2010#151732

Well, it's going on 2 weeks now and not a peep out of the store manager. Should I call them?

Send another E-mail? I could just write them off and shop elsewhere but I'd rather they knew WHY they were losing my business.

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Anonymous

Fern From CanadaJun 02, 2010#149556

They obviously trust us more here.Never went through this kind of harassement.Good for you stand up where others are too afraid to say or speak off colour.

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